Matt Bowen

I know that the first exhibition game doesn’t mean much to the starters because, as Tribune football columnist Matt Bowen writes, that first game is about basics. Yes. Well. Fine. But not for me. I don’t care about footwork. I want fireworks. I mean, who’s going to be talking about Nick Roach’s hip turn in Lovie Smith’s base Tampa-2 coverage? Here’s the deal: The post-partum Jay Cutler to the post-Miami Brandon Marshall is about as basic as it gets for these post-Jerry Angelo/post-Jurassic Age Bears. Their reunion was the story of the offseason. The Bears got a federal court to rule that bringing in a big, game-breaking receiver would not violate NFL...